Ashley Myers Ms.

Germain English 1102-004 Affirmative Action Rarely does a person fill out a college or job application and not have to disclose their race and gender in order for consideration. This is in part due to our countrys affirmative action law, a law that is in place to offer the equality that our country claims to be founded on. According to Merriam Webster dictionary affirmative action is the practice of improving the educational and job opportunities of members of groups that have not been treated fairly in the past because of their race, sex, etc. Affirmative Action started as an executive order in 1961 issued by then President, John F. Kennedy. After Kennedys death President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Right Act in 1964 and outlined what constitutes affirmative action in 1965. He did so because he said that the Civil Rights Act alone wasnt enough to effectively fix the issue of segregation. Affirmative action is a necessary policy that allows for the elevation and advancement of minority students and employees, as well as helps to promote diversity. It is not for the purposes of discrediting a white applicant, it is merely an attempt to balance the scales and level the playing field. Our current President, Barak Obama, says that When there is strong evidence of prolonged and systemic discrimination by organizations, affirmative action may be the only meaningful remedy available. Given the dearth of black and Latino Ph.D. candidates in mathematics and the sciences, for example, a scholarship program for minorities interested in getting advanced degrees in these fields won't keep white students out of such programs. He makes note that affirmative action is a remedy to the unfair discriminations and addresses two important ideas here. One is the idea that affirmative

action promotes reverse racism. He states that scholarships to minority students do not mean that white students suffer. Helping one does not hurt the other; it offers us all a chance to advance. According to ncsl.org Statistics show that after California abolished its affirmative action programs in 1998, the minority student admissions at UC Berkeley fell 61 percent, and minority admissions at UCLA fell 36 percent. After Texas abolished its affirmative action program in 1996, Rice University's freshman class had 46 percent fewer African-Americans and 22 percent fewer Hispanic students. These statistics show that affirmative action is a huge part of consideration for college admittance. Are minority students not worthy of a decent education? When not forced to take an equal look at all applicants, the minority population suffers from extreme prejudices. These injustices are easily resolved through policies like affirmative action. President Obama also acknowledges that systematic discrimination does exist. This is something that the big Whigs in our country have been trying to sweep under the rug for decades. In their article About Affirmative Action, the National Organization for Women states that "Affirmative Action levels the playing field so people of color and all women have the chance to compete in education and in business. White men hold 95% to 97% of the high-level corporate jobs. And that's with affirmative action programs in place. Imagine how low figures would be without affirmative action. This is a prime example of the systematic discrimination that President Obama speaks about. No matter how advanced we as a society think we are, we are still prejudiced, and ignorant to what could be our best interest. I do not only support affirmative action because it affects me, but I believe that it is a much needed practice in order obtain true equality. We as humans tend to stick with what we know only because it iswhat we know. Without being exposed to other ways of doing things and other opinions we are not well rounded individuals. We lack culture, diversity, and we miss out on different

experiences. Remember your first roommate who folded their towels differently from you? You tried it their way and it turned out that their way was a better way of doing it. This is an example of how affirmative action works and what is gained by offering diversity in our everyday settings. Mtholyoke.edu puts it this way: Affirmative action is a way to ensure that diversity is obtained and maintained in schools and in the workplace. In so doing it also helps create tolerant communities because it exposes people to a variety of cultures and ideas that are different from their own. I myself have experienced the benefit of affirmative action, most notably with my admittance into the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I was not accepted only because I am an African American female, but because I also met the requirements of admission. Ideally this is how the law should work. Every applicant has the same expectations placed on them. Mtholyoke.edu offers the argument that Affirmative action reinforces stereotypes and racism. People given a position purely because of affirmative action often are not qualified, and the idea that all people of that race must be "stupid" is perpetuated. Also, it presupposes that all people of the same skin color are from the lower class, and therefore need help. Well I definitely did not have a separate list of requirements simply because I am a black student. I met the same requirements and had the same qualifications as every other applicant. I am not stupid and my admittance into this University certainly does not suggest otherwise. However, I do offer a different outlook and I do have a different opinion and this allows the University to promote a sense of diversity. Overall affirmative action has provided the chance for our country as a whole to advance, making the American Dream more accessible to all Americans. It has allowed us to have an African American president; it has allowed me to be accepted into a reputable university; and it has rectified the issue of systematic discrimination. I believe in affirmative action and I would like to see it around for years to come.